In processes of manufacturing where various parts are assembled to form the final product the task of assembly is greatly assisted if the individual parts arrive at the place of assembly properly oriented with respect to each other. In case of automatic assembly this is practically a must.
Apparatuses are known which are capable of orienting parts or articles of an assembly that arrive at the apparatus with random orientation. One of the most frequently used apparatuses for this prupose consists of a vertical cylinder accomodating the randomly oriented articles and which as a whole is brought to vibrate in such a manner that the articles tend to move along circular paths concentric with the cylinder. A spiral formed ramp along the inner periphery of the cylinder guides some of the articles to ascend the ramp, propelled by the vibrations, and by various means those articles that are not properly oriented are rejected before they reach the top of the ramp.
One of the drawbacks of this device is due to the vibrations which tend to produce obnoxious noice in the audible spectrum, and the production of these vibrations also requires a significant amount of energy.
One of the objects of the invention is to perform the task of orientation of the articles without the use of vibrations as propellant. Another object is to reduce the amount of energy needed.